Filed To Story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
Kent bangs through the door to the kitchen, striding over to the table of older gentlemen.
â??Who let her go,â? he demands, seeking answers.
The three men look up at Kent, their faces blank.
â??Whatâ??s going on here,â? one of the men says, leaning back in his chair, not frightened of Kent or the anger building within him. â??Why are you taking this out on us?â?
Kent just glares at him, not willing to tolerate this small talk. He just wants answers.
â??She went to the barn,â? another one says, equally casual. â??She loves that horse. You know she does.â?
â??Who took her,â? Kent says, running low on patience. â??She did not have permission to go.â?
â??Well, no one told her that,â? the same man says, shrugging and turning back to his coffee. â??The kid took her â?? the young one. Jerome. They headed out a few hours ago.â?
Kent strides out of the kitchen then and through the door to the garage, grabbing a set of keys off the wall and heading for the last car in the row. He hardly ever takes the Bugatti, but â?? well. He wants to get there fast.
Twenty minutes later, Kent pulls into the drive of the stables. Heâ??s running mostly on rage right now, hardly thinking through his actions, instead concentrating his energies on figuring out his next steps.
He has so much he has to sort through. He has to organize reconnaissance to figure out where the other families stand in regards to Alden and Ivan, he has to figure out just how far Ivan has actually gone within the drug trade â?? whether heâ??s taken down other bosses, or made alliances with them. Then, Kent has to take stock of his own position, his own forces â?? this could come to war, if heâ??s not careful with it â??
But at the heart of it all, the beating pulse that echoes through every problem is Fay, Fay, Fay.
He has to secure her, now. Physically, so that no one can take her from him â?? god, if someone took her, held her hostageâ?¦
Kent shakes his head, unwilling to think of it. But beyond that, he needs to secure Fay mentally and emotionally as well, securing her loyalties so that she doesnâ??t betray him â??
Because, god damnit, so much now depends on this girl â??
Kent throws the car into park, stepping out and striding towards the stables.
The stable workers react in much the same way as his home staff did â?? getting out of his way as fast as they can and making themselves scarce, so that when Kent strides through the stable it looks like a ghost town. Only the horses are curious enough to peer at him over their stall doors.
When he gets to Heathcliffâ??s stall, though, itâ??s empty.
Which means only one thing.
Kent keeps going, passing quickly through the barn and heading for the training ring out back.
He sees her almost immediately, her flame-red hair flowing over her shoulders, seated on the beautiful red horse that he chose specifically because they were a match, a pair. Even as Kent strides forward, eager to interrupt, needing to talk to lock her down, he canâ??t help but admire her progress.
Fay is going in slow circles around the ring, her horse trotting neatly as she raises and lowers herself in the saddle to match the horseâ??s gait. Kent can see the smile and the joy on her face as she does it â?? a natural horsewoman, yes, but also someone who is seeing the results of her hard work.
As he nears, though, Kent frowns. He sees that her smiles seem to be continually directed to the center of the ring. Kent shifts his gaze, then, and is suddenly furious when he sees someone standing there in the middle of the ring, giving her directions.
Not her trainer, but, instead, Jerome.
Kent increases his pace, fueled by his anger at that boy. What the hell is he doing in the ring with her â?? he isnâ??t trained â??
As Kent continues forward, he sees Jerome call to Fay. She slows the horse and, smiling, walks him to the center of the ring, where Jerome waits.
The smile on her face â?? coy, sweet, as she laughs and jokes with that kid â?? the fucking kid he picked up to cover the most menial of the familyâ??s tasks â?? completely expendable â??
And yet sheâ??s smiling at him, laughing down into his face, and heâ??s â??
Kent goes red when he sees it.
The boy first grasps the horseâ??s reins, and then puts a hand out to rest on Fayâ??s knee â??
To slowly, leisurely stroke his fingers across her thigh, working his way upwards â??
Fay glances at the touch, blushes, but doesnâ??t push it away â??
Kent rips open the gate to the riding arena, bursting through it.
Fay sees him first, her eyes going wide with shock and then her face going white when she sees the expression on his face, the fury in his eyes.
Jerome spins, reacting both to the sound of Kentâ??s approach and to Fayâ??s shock. He gasps, tearing his hand from its place on Fayâ??s thigh and tucking it guiltily behind his back, his own eyes trained on Kentâ??s raised fist â??
Which, a second later, slams directly into Jeromeâ??s face, cracking across his jaw.
Fay screams, unable to stop her own fear and surprise, as Jerome stumbles and then falls back into the dry dirt of the arena
Kent sneers down at the boy but then snaps his head up as he hears the horse screech, shying away in fear, his haunches bunching below him as he rears and then bolts, heading away from this violence, eager to get to the other side of the arena â?? or anywhere else â??
Kent sees her face, then, and feels the horror within himself as she clings, first, to the horseâ??s mane and then looses her balance, flying free of the saddle and through the air as the horse bolts â??
She slams into the ground, face down, her heaped form laying still as Kent rushes forward.
I gasp air back into my lungs after a moment of real fear when I couldnâ??t pull any in â??
It aches as it fills me, having been so roughly knocked out of me in the first place â??
God damnit, I think, shaking a little with the shock of falling off a horse for the first time, of the sudden violence that caused it â??
I roll over on the ground, pulling myself to a seated position, pressing my eyes closed as I work to steady my breath.
Someone is there next to me, almost instantly â?? I feel a hand on my shoulder, a tremulous voice asking if Iâ??m okay â??
When I open my eyes, Iâ??m shocked to see it is Kent kneeling next to me, concern written in every line of his face.
â??Are you serious?â? I shout at him, anger mixing with the fear running through my veins. I brush his hand off my shoulder. â??We would all be fine if you didnâ??t rush in here like a crazy person! What the hell â??â??
Suddenly, I remember my horse and spin my torso around, looking behind me to see Heathcliff at the other side of the arena, looking at us with wide and frightened eyes.
I push myself to my feet in a moment, heading towards him â??
â??Fay,â? Kent says behind me, grabbing for my arm. But heâ??s too slow, and Iâ??m able to pull out of his grasp, glaring at him over my shoulder as I hurry over to my poor horse.
Behind him, I can see Jerome starting to stand up as well, a hand on his jaw, looking anxiously between us.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.